Simple Woman's Daybook for 17January 2010

Outside my window…5:35 and dark. 28 degrees outside, but the snow and ice are gone.

I am thinking…about the schedule I've been plugging away at. I sure do hope that for all the time it is taking me to do it, that it will be worthwhile and keep things running more smoothly around here.

I am thankful for…Confession and Communion. Even when my prayer life is totally arid and lackluster, those two sacraments give me the strength I need to hang in there. And at the Chapel of Divine Mercy, as with other churches with Fathers of Mercy pastors, confessions are heard right before Mass every Sunday.

From the kitchen...Pancakes? I haven't really worked out my menu plan this week, but I have a full pantry and freezer, so I hope my schedule won't cave in because of this oversight!

I am creating…Finished the fingerless gloves for Adrian...and they are too big! So I need to start another pair. I also have baby things to make for my first niece, to be born in March. And now I need to knit up a teeny, tiny hat and booties for Madeline Therese...

I am reading ...A Mother's Rule of Life. I also have Goodbye, Good Men on the bedside and read a little of it here and there, but it is tough to read. I have to put it down after a few pages. And I have How to Tell Stories to Children to read.

I am hoping...that my schedule will be useful this week, and that Madeline does well!

I am hearing…just the sound om my Gabriel playing quietly in the living room by himself.

A few plans for the rest of the week: knitting another pair of fingerless gloves; ordering a few things for a little boy in this house who will be 5 on the 5th of February; continued work on scheduling and menu planning; a visit from friends on Friday: Bret will be teaching a friend how to hook up a Jersey cow to a surge milking machine!

I am praying...for Cindy, her family, her new baby. I am praying for 2010 to be a good year in spite of a bit of a bumpy start. I am praying for the health of my family in mind, body and spirit. And I am praying to be the kind of mother who can lead her kids to sanctity by her example (where is that laughter coming from...?). I am praying without ceasing...

Picture Thought: this isn't Madeline, it is Faith, a baby born in Ireland. This is what a 2lb, 20z baby looks like. Maddie is an ounce less...and I remember thinking how tiny Gemma's hands looked at birth!Visit Peggy for more Daybook entries, and have a blessed week!